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System Requirements on game wikis

I was working on the "Battlefield 2" wiki in the development section adding the System Specifications in the section. And I've added this code aswell in the Specs box:

| diskdrive1 = 8x or faster CD/DVD drive

Now that does not show in the box (The Disk Drive Speed), but others show like Os and stuff!

Don't know why, Is it because of some Syntax or something?

Please help you can check out the code here: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battlefield_2&action=edit&section=10

Thanks in advance,

me 17:21, 28 September 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gdcdigital (talkcontribs)

Hey, Gdc, welcome back! The deal here: what you're trying to edit there is called a template. Templates are basically bits of code that are stored on a separate page that can then be used and re-used throughout different articles, without having to copy and recopy the code bit for each page. Those things that say, for example, "| platform1 = Microsoft Windows" are parameters of the template; they're used to pass bits of information for the template to use in rendering itself. If you happen to be familiar with programming, they're very similar to the parameters/arguments of a function or method.

The catch here is that you can only pass in bits of information that the template is looking for. The first part of the parameter that's before the equals sign (in the example I quoted above, it'd be platform1) is the parameter name: in order for it to be used, that parameter name has to match a name that the template is looking for. So, in this case, the template is Template:VG requirements; what you would do to add the CD/DVD requirement is go to that template's page and look at its documentation to see if there are any parameters you can use that specify a CD/DVD requirement. And when we look at it, I don't think there are any; there's a parameter called "media", but it's not exactly what you're going for. So, since there's no parameter for you to use, there's no way to put in a CD/DVD requirement. Does that help? Writ Keeper  17:39, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

Thank you so much User:Writ Keeper the link you gave me helped me... Now is there nay way to ask wikipedia to add some more templates? and couldn't media be the correct template to use (bit confused right now XD)? Gideon 18:53, 28 September 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gdcdigital (talkcontribs)
Hi, Gdcdigital. In principle, anybody may edit most templates; but template code can be quite hairy. So I suggest that you post on the talk page Template Talk:VG requirements, explaining what you would like to see added, and why this is a good idea. --ColinFine (talk) 23:22, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
Thank you! :-)

Gideon 03:50, 29 September 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gdcdigital (talkcontribs)

Edits are not being saved

Recently in this article - Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara!, I saw an IP making 4 edits. However I cannot revert these edits with Twinkle (3 intermediate revisions not shown) - I dunno why since they are made by the same IP. For these kind of things I just go to a clean version and edit it. Although in this case my edits are not getting saved and they are not appearing in the history section. Sohambanerjee1998 17:16, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

Through the four edits, the IP has removed some content but added everything back. So, there is no difference between your last edit and the latest revision. Thats the reason why you are unable to undo the edits. -- Sriram speak up 17:48, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
Oh I See, even though the IP re-added the content the formatting is hay-wire right now. Now it cant be fixed manually can it? Sohambanerjee1998 18:06, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
Doesn't look so. [1] -- Sriram speak up 18:09, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
I mean, the IP edits doesn't seem to have caused any issues with formatting. If you find any, it might have been even before he made those edits. And you can fix it now by editing manually. -- Sriram speak up 18:11, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
I have made a test edit. Try undoing it. -- Sriram speak up 18:17, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
Reverted the test edit. Sohambanerjee1998 18:21, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
Happy editing. -- Sriram speak up 18:24, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
Oh fo' sure. Sohambanerjee1998 18:33, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

Designing Userpages

I was just wondering about my userpage...

When I check out other users userpages I find that their pages are all colorful and with boxes and images and stuff...

I mean who does it? Wikipedia? or does the user itself customize his/her userpage?

Just wanna ask if its "legal" to customize my page or if it is "illegal".

I would be glad to explain if I don't get across you.

me 16:20, 28 September 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gdcdigital (talkcontribs)

Welcome to the Teahouse. Guidance is at Wikipedia:User pages. - David Biddulph (talk) 16:28, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
Hi Gdcdigital, welcome to the Teahouse. You are free to decorate your user page however you like as long as it complies with the relevant policies (no advertising, respect copyrights, no personal attacks, etc). Some people put userboxes on their pages to enumerate their interests and add a personal touch. Userboxes are usually templates, which are little bits of wiki-code that live on their own wiki-pages, that you can insert into an article or other pages by just naming the template. You can get an introduction to the syntax at a quick guide to templates. Once you understand the syntax, you can look for another user page that you like, view its source, and copy pieces of it into your own page (always good practice to attribute the source in your edit summary). You can also find a list of colorful userboxes in Wikipedia:Userboxes. DPRoberts534 (talk) 16:38, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

Is this the right place to ask this question?

Yes. Ross Hill Talk to me!  22:23, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Where can I find someone to edit my article?

I have a new article that I would like someone to edit. Where can I go to find editors?

SmartSignBrooklyn (talk) 16:10, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, SmartSignBrooklyn. The main problem with your article The New Release is the lack of references to significant coverage in independent, reliable sources. It is up to you as the creator of the article to provide at least two or three such sources that show the notability of the topic by Wikipedia's standards. Otherwise, the article is at risk of being deleted.
Once those sources have been provided and formatted properly, it will be an easy matter to improve the article. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 18:28, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
Hi, SmartSignBrooklyn. I am afraid I am going to be a little more negative than Cullen. At this point in time, there are no references on the article that show notability. That means it could be nominated for deletion at any time. The standard for inclusion here at Wikipedia is called notability. The reason it is called that is because encyclopedias are what is known as tertiary sources. That means we only publish what reliable, independent, secondary sources are writing about (or making "note" of). The only sources you have are the company's website (not independent), trade publications (also not independent and not reliable because they generally just write off press releases from the organization they are writing about without fact-checking), and blogs (not reliable due to no fact checking). What you will need is some references to general circulation magazines, TV or radio news or newspapers. They will also have to show that coverage of the company is not just local. A suggestion would be to search Google News, rather than just do a straight Google search. Good luck. Editing is really not a priority with this article. It needs sourcing first. Gtwfan52 (talk) 20:56, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

is there anyone to guide me about the Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources

for the new article added to B.R.AMBEDKAR page, I took reference from the book called From Powerless Village to Union Power Secretary: Memoirs of , The author name is Abraham, Prathipati, who was Secretary Ministry of Power, Govt. of India. He held responsible executive positions in Centre and State Governments. He functioned as Chairman, Maharashtra State Electricity Board and he was the first Chairman of the State Electricity Board in the country(INDIA). He wrote three book namely called as

Power Sector Reforms: Focus on Distribution

Ambedkar's Contribution for Economic Planning

From Powerless Village to Union Power Secretary: Memoirs of ..

Can we consider this book as reliable source?

one more , is this url reliable http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/8.2/br_laichas.html

Please share your thought. Premknutsford25 (talk) 13:05, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

@Premknutsford25: Welcome to the Teahouse. I assume the books are reliable and the website you linked to appears to be on a cursory glance. However, you may not copy anything directly from the sources. --Jakob (Scream about the things I've broken) 13:53, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Photo uploaded OK - not sure

How long does it take for an uploaded photo to appear on the Wiki page? I have uploaded a legally approved photo but do not know whether the upload was successful. I have not been an editor for very long. Many thanks Davidshrimpton (talk) 08:06, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Hello! It takes no time at all for a photo to appear if it is actually uploaded. Maybe you did not reach till the end of the upload procedure and hence no image is seen. Try following the procedure as per Wikipedia:Uploading_images#Mini_how-to. §§Dharmadhyaksha§§ {T/C} 08:23, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
Hello Davidshrimpton and welcome to the Teahouse. Copyright free photos and those with a proper Creative Commons license should be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, where they can be freely used on any language Wikipedia or for any other purpose. English Wikipedia itself hosts mostly "fair use" images under strict and narrow standards. Common examples include a company logo for use only in an article about the company, or book cover art for use only in an article about the book. I see no Wikipedia image uploads in your edit history. If you give us more details, we may be able to help. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 08:33, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Adding an article to a category

How would you edit the article if it had a TOC? I want to add one name on the list on the link below. For example on the 4th page of the following link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:American_child_actors&pagefrom=Santana%2C+Merlin%0AMerlin+Santana#mw-pages— Preceding unsigned comment added by Jennajjen (talkcontribs)

Hi Jennajjen. I've moved your post to the top of the page and given it a header. The page you link is not an article but a category – a type of page that lists articles that have been categorized into it. A page is placed into a category by adding to the page itself (i.e., not by editing the category page and adding anything to it), at the bottom, the following code [[Category:Name of category]]. If Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Tai Urban is accepted for submission, it should be placed into various categories by such method. However, such categories are only for live articles, so the articles for creation draft should not be placed into any such categories yet. By the way, at discussion pages such as this one (but never in articles), you should sign your posts by placing four tildes (~~~~) after them. The software will change these into your signature when you save. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:05, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Adding Pictures

Perhaps I am daft, but I'm not sure how one places pictures in articles. The Brabanter and Friesian (chicken) articles could really use some. Also concerning the latter of the two pages (which I created), I am not sure how to get it to come up when one searches for it. It seems to be done by some special process, and unfortunately, I do not know how to do that either... As the Crow Flies (talk) 21:40, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Do not mind the last bit, I think I have figured that out. I am still not sure about the pictures though. As the Crow Flies (talk) 22:23, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Howdy, AtCF. Welcome to the Teahouse and Wikipedia. I'm going to recommend that you first add {{infobox poultry breed}} at the very top of your article. Next is the problem of finding photographs with a free license compatible with Wikipedia. Because it is possible to take photos of the poultry, I doubt that a fair use image would be acceptable. You might try contacting fanciers who provided images to the website that you included as an external link. Uploading is pretty easy. On the far left side of this page, look for Upload file and click it. If you don't already see it, click on Toolbox to extend the navigation list. Follow the appropriate Wizard to upload the digital photo. When you reach the end of the Wizard steps, there will be links to the image. Write them down or otherwise save those links. Then you can use one in the infobox. To add a second image and move it to the left side of the page, use wikicode like [[file:your_chicken_pic_name.png|thumb|left|120px|Friesian hen and cock]]. Ask again if you run into problems. DocTree (ʞlɐʇ·cont) Join WER 00:21, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for your help. As the Crow Flies (talk) 01:46, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Hey As the Crow Flies. The existing free image below may depict a Brabanter, at least according to this chicken breed blog.
Anyway, to place an existing image in an article, add [[File:File name.jpg|thumb|Caption text]] to the area of the article where you want the image to appear – replacing File name.jpg with the actual file name of the image, and Caption text with a short description of the image. See our picture tutorial for more information. However, if you use the infobox suggested above, it provides all the coding for you, so you would leave out everything (including "file:"); that is place next to the parameter "image=", just Melchior d'Hondecoeter 002.jpg Regarding the article not coming up in searches, that is because it has not been indexed yet, which happens usually every morning GMT. See Help:Searching#Delay in updating the search index. Finally, I recommend that you list the Friesian article on the disambiguation page at Friesian. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:29, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, I was looking for paintings by that artist that (at least supposedly) depict Brabanters. I'm familiar with that chicken breed blog, I added it as an external reference and had all my edits to the article reverted. The image should be okay though (I think). I'll have to attempt all these things later; I lack time presently. As the Crow Flies (talk) 11:00, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Message at the top of the Edit page

Hello again. I don't know how to ask this but... how's that people add little messages to the top of their edit page on their talk pages... like this. Thanks! Miss Bono [hello, hello!] 17:21, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Bono, first of all glad to see to that you kept your name, they are called Page notices. User:Miss Bono/Editnotice and User talk:Miss Bono/Editnotice are for your user and talk pages respectively. You can copy from mine too. Sohambanerjee1998 17:31, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
I think you'll find that the example you gave came from User talk:Prabash.A/Editnotice. Details of the process are at Wikipedia:Editnotice. - David Biddulph (talk) 17:31, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
David already gave you the link. The link to my one is User:Sohambanerjee1998/Editnotice. Sohambanerjee1998 17:42, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
Thank you very much to both of you :D Miss Bono [hello, hello!] 17:35, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

I would like to upload a photo to an existing page. It is a publicity photo of a public figure that was released on purpose to the media so they would use it. I cannot figure out how to classify it regarding copyright. Any advice of the safest way to use it? I am certain the owner does not mind its public use - in fact, it's use is intended. Jtr71 (talk) 13:27, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Hi, and welcome to the Teahouse. In order for an image to be used on Wikipedia, it must be released under a free content license, or meet the strict requirements of non-free content usage. Does this image fall under those criteria? theonesean 13:30, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
I will try and find out. THanks for the help! Jtr71 (talk) 13:32, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Help with reference

Hello, I have this quote from the interview Sit Back and Relax? Bono's Wife Can't by Liz Jones from the Evening Standard (March 02, 2005), I need to add a reference but I just don't know how to make it. Can anyone help me? Thank you very much. Miss Bono [hello, hello!] 12:54, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Hello! How about this:
Jones, Liz (02 March 2005). "Sit Back and Relax? Bono's Wife Can't". London Evening Standard. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
The code is: {{cite news|last=Jones|first=Liz|title=Sit Back and Relax? Bono's Wife Can't|newspaper=[[London Evening Standard]]|date=02 March 2005}}.
If you can find it online (nice, but not necessary), add in a |url=. Cheers --LukeSurl t c 14:23, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
(edit conflict) Thanks very much, Luke. I don't have Internet access, I found it last year when I had Internet access but forgot to download the page and just copied the article in a .txt. If anyone could find the url for me, it would be great. Thanks for the ref :D Miss Bono [hello, hello!] 14:36, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
There is a copy of the article here [2] don't know if that counts though? Theroadislong (talk) 14:32, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
Thanks Theroadislong. Miss Bono [hello, hello!] 14:35, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Is it ever appropriate to include a link under References AND under External Links? For instance, if I am writing an article on a piece of software, I may consider the software's home page to be a useful thing to list under External Links, but I may also want to use it as a reference for some piece of logistical information about the software. Should avoid doing one or the other of those things? Is it ok to do both? Thanks! Zinios (talk) 08:10, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse. The guidance you want is at Wikipedia:External links#References and citation. - David Biddulph (talk) 09:26, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
Generally what you propose should be OK. For a reference, please try to link to the actual sub-page of the site that verifies a particular fact you are adding to an article. If you're interested in the more in-depth policy on primary sources, see WP:PRIMARY. In a nutshell, they can be used, but with caution and the article cannot wholly rely on them. Also they are not considered evidence of the significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject regarding the subject's notability. --LukeSurl t c 09:31, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Thank you both! That is clear. Zinios (talk) 10:10, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

How to use MediaWiki API to edit a web page on a local server

I created a web page on my own local server using MediaWiki. The url is "http:\localhost\mediawiki\index.php\newPage". I intend to edit the page using the MediaWiki API in PHP, and plan to use API:edit. But how can I set the title or pageid parameter? Is there any other methods to edit this page on my local server using MediaWiki API?

Thanks! Asdk77 (talk) 03:21, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Hello, Asdk77. This page is for questions about editing and using Wikipedia specifically. A better place to ask about using MediWiki elsewhere is mw:Sysadmin hub. --ColinFine (talk) 15:09, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
Thank you! I see.Asdk77 (talk) 17:16, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

How to semi-protect a page

How do I semi-protect a page, specifically, Alice and Bob? Thanks. --XndrK (talk · contribs · count) 23:09, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

You don't. An admin might semi-protect an article, but only if it is subject to persistent vandalism, and there is no such evidence in this case. See WP:Protection. - David Biddulph (talk) 23:17, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
To request protection visit WP:RPP. However the page you mention does not seem to meet criteria. Konveyor Belt express your horror at my edits 23:21, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Can I move a section up or down?

I'm editing a page and one of the links to supporting research added a section called "Research Team". This section should be down at the bottom, between =sources= and =references=. How do I reorder the sections to move it up or down in the list? The Original Twisted Poet (talk) 23:03, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Figured it out myself, thanks. The Original Twisted Poet (talk) 23:44, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

what can I use as a reliable source?

I have a few websites that I cited as sources and its been declined (Saudia83 (talk) 22:32, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse. The history of your draft shows that it hasn't been reviewed again since you resubmitted it on 20 September. It would be sensible if you were to read the links provided in the feedback from the previous review; if you don't address the previous matters, the draft will either be rejected again or may sit unreviewed while reviewers give priority to those editors who have taken notice of previous reviews. Try WP:Referencing for beginners as a starting point. - David Biddulph (talk) 22:58, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

how to better format an article

I have an article I'm working on: Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Rutan & Tucker I would like to put it into a template format, Add pictures and also shorten the links. Can you tell me where to find this info. Thank you. Bilder4u Bilder4u (talk) 21:56, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Bilder4u! Anyone who hosts here would be glad to help you with layout issues on your article, but that is not going to help get it in the encyclopedia. As every reviewer who rejected your article so far has told you, it doesn't meet notability requirements at this point. A law firm would need to satisfy the requirements of WP:CORP, which, among other things, calls for sourcing from independent reliable sources from a disperse geographic area. In other words, the local coverage you are showing isn't enough. The listing on the top 350 law firms doesn't show it either, as that is not in depth coverage. So, yes, we can help you with the layout and linking, but at this point it would be kind of like putting lipstick on a pig. If you can come up with other references, by all means add them and drop me a note on my talk page and I will be happy to help you. Gtwfan52 (talk) 22:30, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

I understand. Thank you for your time and input, much appreciated. Bilder4u```` — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bilder4u (talkcontribs) 23:40, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

how do you add to or edit an existing article

how do you add to or edit an existing article . This is my first time I will be attempting this and i am not sure how to go about it. burattir90Burattir90 (talk) 21:05, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Hello and Welcome! On the page, near the top-right corner click "Edit" or and do the edits from there. Then I would preview the edit by clicking the Preview button on the bottom of the Edit page, then put in a edit summary ie. "Fixing grammar", then click Save. I would also read WP:HOW and Wikipedia:Tutorial/Editing for a more better perspective on help on editing. Enjoy! ///EuroCarGT 21:19, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

When I hit edit this is what shows up

{{container category}}

Child and teenage actors of the United States; i.e. American children who had notable professional careers as actors before the age of 18. This also applies to former child actors.

You can help: Please diffuse all articles listed below into the appropriate subcategories for gender.

Child Category:American children" Category:Child actors by nationality

Thanks! Jennajjen (talk) 04:44, 4 October 2013 (UTC)ju

What page where you editing? -- t numbermaniac c 07:50, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
I believe Jennajjen is attempting to edit a category. You can't edit the contents of a category via the category page. Categories are collections of articles that have been categorized by topic...you can see the categories at the bottom each article.
If you add the category "Child actor" (which would be [[Category:Child actors]]) at the bottom of the article or add it through one of the wiki tools like HotCat, that person will then appear, alphabetically, in the category "Child actors". It's really simple but you have to be sure you are choosing appropriate categories.
Good luck! I hope this helps! Liz Read! Talk! 20:45, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

how to add an article in another language

Hi, this is Goldooneh, I am new to wikipedia, I wanted to add an article that is translation of an already existing article, but I don't know how to do it. please help me. Thanks

Goldooneh (talk) 19:32, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Hello Goldooneh, the simple answer is that you are welcome to translate an article from another Wikipedia and post it here, provided your version meets basic Wikipedia requirements of sourcing and formatting. If you do translate an article, please ensure you fill out and post on its Talk page the form given at Template:Translated page, so we can be fairly giving credit to the writers of the Spanish/German/Japanese/etc wiki article you've translated. You can see more details at WP:Translation if you like. If you are very new to Wikipedia, I suggest you run your translation through the Wikipedia:Article wizard so you can get step-by-step instructions and guidance for getting it properly ready to publish. Good luck! MatthewVanitas (talk) 20:17, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Goldooneh, it would be great to be able to read more of the articles that are in other Wikipedias. The references will likely not be in English, and that's okay, although it's nice if you can add ones that are. Adding a translation of the title of a reference. as an extra bit of information, would be helpful, but not required. —Anne Delong (talk) 21:25, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

when will my new article show up?

Hello! I have just finished a new article, and hope I have done it correctly. It does not yet show up in "main Wikipedia" -- is that normal? (the article is on "Gwendolyn Galsworth")

Thanks for your help. Riknavpdx (talk) 16:03, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

The article is contained at User:Riknavpdx. I will move it to the mainspace at Gwendolyn Galsworth. (Done) Konveyor Belt express your horror at my edits 16:12, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Thank you, Konveyor Belt! What should I have have done to achieve this?Riknavpdx (talk) 17:02, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Hey Rik. There is a link at the top of your screen labeled "move", which allows you to move an article from one title to another title, and also from one namespace to another, like from the userspace (i.e. pages that start with User: ) to the article space (articles that are part of the encyclopedic content here). You can read more about it hereabouts. I, JethroBT drop me a line 17:07, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Are you sure that you did a move, Konveyor Belt? As far as I can see User:Riknavpdx is still where it was. Gwendolyn Galsworth says that you created it, so it looks like you did a copy and paste, which would have been a breach of Wikipedia's rules on copyright and attribution (and because you picked up a snapshot in time it means that you didn't pick up the latest edit to the original document). If this was a mistake, then it needs sorting out through the procedure defined at Wikipedia:How to fix cut-and-paste moves. - David Biddulph (talk) 17:08, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Ooopsie -- now I'm really confused! (but delightedto have you all on board) I sent what i aoped was a repose to JethroBT about how I don't see a "move" button on my user creen, only read/Edit/View History Riknavpdx (talk) 17:20, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
To the right of the "View History" tab label you should see a star, which is the "Watch" button to add a page to your watchlist (or remove it), & then to the right of that should be a down arrow, which should reveal a "Move" label. There is a picture at WP:Move; have you looked at that page? - David Biddulph (talk) 17:29, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Thank you David Biddulph -- yes, I now find the "move" button -- two issues now: (1)the article is no longer on my watchlist, and (2)where/what do I move it TO? Riknavpdx (talk) 17:41, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Oh, sorry, now I understand, and am going to WP:Move for the answers -- thank you again.Riknavpdx (talk) 17:43, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
And me again -- got this message:

You do not have permission to move this page, for the following reason:

The page could not be moved: a page of that name already exists, or the name you have chosen is not valid.

Please choose another name, or use Requested moves to ask an administrator to help you with the move.

Do not manually move the article by copying and pasting it; the page history must be moved along with the article text.

My entry was: [to new title] Article/ Gwendolyn Galsworth PS: I will be away from my computer for a couple of hoursRiknavpdx (talk) 17:53, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Thank you, Konveyor. Let me know when it's okay to do the move. Oh boy!Riknavpdx (talk) 20:10, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
An admin has deleted the copy and paste version, moved yours & tried to merge the history. I have reinserted a minor edit of mine that got lost in the merge (number of Ts in http). The move left a redirect at your user page address, so to try to avoid confusion I've changed that redirect to a simple link. Should all be OK now. - David Biddulph (talk) 20:52, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Wow! But I still can't pull it up on the mainspace of wiki -- is that ok?Riknavpdx (talk) 21:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
It's there. As I said, the admin moved it. You'll find it at Gwendolyn Galsworth, and if you look at the history you will see that you have the attribution for the work you did while it was on your user page. - David Biddulph (talk) 21:18, 2 October 2013 (UTC)


David, I so appreciate your time and help, but when I go to Wikipedia.org and search for galsworth, the article is not there...Riknavpdx (talk) 22:20, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
I moved your message, which seemed to be sitting in the wrong section. The search database takes a while to update, see Wikipedia:Search#Delay in updating the search index. Have a look again tomorrow. - David Biddulph (talk) 22:29, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Tildes not on ipad keyboard

Wikipedia requires tildes for all non article posts, but there are no tildes on the ipad keyboard.

Does anyone have a solution to this problem?Red and black partisan (talk) 14:21, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

If you tap the key marked with "#+=" then more options appear including the tildes. Theroadislong (talk) 14:27, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
If all else fails the writing toolbar at the top of the editing box also has a signature button. Konveyor Belt express your horror at my edits 15:09, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
You can also use {{mosig}} or {{mobilesig}} -- Ypnypn (talk) 19:56, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
iPads do have the tilde character. I'm typing this on my iPad right now. Press ".?123" and then "#+=" and the tilde character will be there. -- t numbermaniac c 08:00, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Text not appearing online sometimes

When I add text in town, it appears online strait away. However, when I add text in the countryside, it doesn't appear untill I am in town. Does anyone know what is going on.Red and black partisan (talk) 14:18, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

I'm guessing you're editing on your phone or tablet? The following is my guess: your edits are occurring instantly, however when you have reduced signal your phone tries to reduce loading times by loading a cached version of the article which was saved before you made the edit. --LukeSurl t c 15:02, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
When your internet slows down, your device tries to use parts of the web page that are already saved in the device's cache, as Luke pointed out. The device is loading the older version of the article, before you edited it, so that the page loads faster. When you're in town it loads faster, so it does not need to use as much of the cache as it would in the countryside. -- t numbermaniac c 08:03, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Grading articles

Hi. Over the past several months, I've created and edits about 40 articles that relate to the Arts of Africa. I have added them to WikiProject Africa and any other relevant WikiProjects. However, most of the new articles have not received a grade and the edited articles still retain their Stub-status, even though I believe my edits have advanced them to at least Start quality articles. Is there any template I can place on the articles that will indicate to editors that these articles need to be graded? Or would it be better for me to change the grade myself? Many thanks in advance for your help! Alexandrathom (talk) 14:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Hello Alexandrathom, and welcome to the Teahouse! Thanks for your edits. =) Feel free to change the WP:GRADE yourself if no-one at the WikiProject is doing it! Best. Biosthmors (talk) pls notify me (i.e. {{U}}) while signing a reply, thx 14:05, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Is my article personal opinion?

Hello, I posted an article at Wiki (The Paleolithic Paradigm) and someone noted that it is personal reflection or opinion rather than encyclopedic description. I hope I can discuss this with someone. I quoted 2 paragraphs from my book on the topic, which contains personal reflection. Other than that, the article is certainly not opinion. Would it be possible for someone to look at the article and evaluate it for me? It is very short. Thanks, Terry StockerTerry Stocker (talk) 13:58, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia. I took a look at your article The Paleolithic Paradigm. I think the main problem here is that the "Paleolithic paradigm" does not seem to be a recognised concept outside of the book that you wrote with the same title. This is why the article reads like an essay - you are giving your own exposition of the concept, rather than summarising what others have said about it. So an article about the concept "Paleolithic paradigm" is likely to fail to meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines. An article about the book The Paleolithic Paradigm could be acceptable (as long as the book itself has attracted enough attention to make it notable) but in that case you should not be writing the article because as the author of the book you have a clear conflict of interest. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:50, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Dear Gandalf61, Thank you very much. I will attempt to address all the issues. In fact, because of your response I went to Wiki: "religious rituals" (something I should have done before) and the content directly confirms my points and I will be in touch with certain individuals in the bibliography. But maybe you can inform me if there is any influence of opinion in the first four paragraphs of my article? Again, Thank You! TerryTerry Stocker (talk) 17:18, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Hello, Terry. The content of those paragraphs may well be encyclopaedic and supported by those references. But as far as I can see "The Paleolithic Paradigm" as a phrase or a concept is not supported by any of the references other than your own book, and is therefore not appropriate as the subject of a Wikipedia article: see WP:NEOLOGISM for more on this. --ColinFine (talk) 22:12, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Colin: Thank you for your response. This is all quite an interesting procedure. I thought I might be rejected from Wiki because of religious objections, but that seems not to be the case.

However, when it was first posted, the complaint was that it was personal opinion. I think you would agree that is not the case. So, I hope that box can be removed.

Then came the complaint that the contributor has a close connection to the article. I could have had a friend post the article; but in my 55 years as a scholar, I have represented myself. As for a neutral point of view, the second passage from my book could be deleted, if you so judge, and the second box removed. However, as an anthropologist/archaeologist my concern is for a better society, and right now humans are killing each other (still!) because of The Paleolithic Paradigm, and I cite Sam Harris on that, not myself.

As for the third box, neologism: my article adheres to the idea that:

To support an article about a particular term or concept we must cite what reliable secondary sources, such as books and papers, say about the term or concept, not books and papers that use the term.

I am not promoting anything except in an indirect manner of disseminating knowledge and interpreting data in the most scientific manner possible about who we are as humans. (Indeed, all articles at Wiki are in some way promoting “themselves” as information/ knowledge.)

My coining of The Paleolithic Paradigm is simply bringing together vast amounts of data and interpretations of data from over 100 years of investigations. My book TPP has over 700 footnotes. I finally posted something at Wiki so I would not have to keep explaining my book. If you choose not to post it, that will just be part of the on-going process. One day TPP will be at Wiki.

Thank you again, and now that I understand your procedures, I will be contributing to editing other Wiki entries. Wiki is a very noble undertaking, and I do wonder why someone removed the three Wiki footnotes from my article, especially the one on mirror neurons. Sincerely, TerryTerry Stocker (talk) 12:52, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

To answer the last point, on the removal of 3 instances where Wikipedia articles were being used as references, these were explained in the edit summaries, and in a note on your user talk page at User talk:Terry Stocker#Can't use Wikipedia as a reference. - David Biddulph (talk) 13:01, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Trouble with a sports template

I just created an article for the 1982–83 IHF Women's Cup Winners' Cup, and I used the 32TeamBracket-2legs for the results. However, the names of the finalists don't appear in the box. I had copypasted the template, and I don't see anything wrong. What could be the problem? Pakhtakorienne (talk) 13:52, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Pakhtakorienne and welcome to The Teahouse. I put a note on the talk page of the person who created the template and the description of how to use it.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 19:52, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Greetings,

I found out what was wrong with your specific issue and it has to do with the code. Unfortunately, I overlooked consistence in the code and it should be able to display on your article for now. When I have a bit more time later tonight, I will fix the template and correct it across all articles currently using it. Cheers! Digirami (talk) 21:09, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Moving articles up the quality scale

If I notice that an article's rating on the quality scale seems to be out of date, what is the right action for me to take? For instance, I see a few "Stub-class" articles that have clearly been expanded far beyond a stub. Specifically I'm looking at articles in the WikiProject Computational Biology, but I imagine the question applies to all WikiProjects. Thanks! Zinios (talk) 12:27, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Just change the rating to one you think is more appropriate. Eric Corbett 12:37, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Thanks! Zinios (talk) 08:44, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

This regards a photo I took for a new article, Digital Computer Association (DCA), which has been submitted for review. The photo subject is a logo attached to a cloth armband -- a memento from the now defunct DCA, which held its final meeting in Los Angeles in 1993. To my knowledge, the DCA was never incorporated and did not hold any copyrights.

Does this information allow me to upload my photo to Wikipedia Commons without restrictions? What else must I do?

Thanks,

Robert A. Berman Robert A. Berman (talk) 12:08, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Hi Robert. I can't give you full answer, but you should not assume that the logo is in the public domain just because the organisation was not incorporated. Someone must have designed the logo, and it probably remains their intellectual property. However, uploading logos to Wikipedia can be considered fair use under the right circumstances. See WP:LOGO for information about this. Formerip (talk) 12:24, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Are there classes on writing articles?

I'm interested in learning how to do formatting in articles, as well as general guidance on how to add content. Are there any tutorials here? Two kinds of pork (talk) 05:05, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia. Yes indeed there is, take a look at WP:TUTORIAL. If you get stuck with anything you now know where to find us. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 06:36, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Submitting an Artice using Article for Creation

I submitted an article. When I check on the article, the top of the article has a message saying that the article has not been submitted and is not pending review. The bottom of the page has a message saying that the article is waiting to be reviewed. How can I tell if my article has in fact been submitted and is waiting for review? I appreciate your help! SJoy8 (talk) 01:54, 2 October 2013 (UTC)SJ SJoy8 (talk) 01:54, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Hi, SJoy8! Thanks for stopping by the Teahouse. I took a look at your article and it appears it has been submitted for review. I am a reviewer, but I did not review it, as I would have had to decline it. It appears the subject is notable on first glance, although I did not read your citations. If the items you were citing in WSJ, Vanity Fair, etc. were detailed stories primarily about the subject of the article, then you should be good to go notability wise. However, the article needs an extensive rewrite, as it reads like ad copy. Promotional language is a no no here in Wikiland. Give it a re-write, using far less adjectives and adverbs, cut out the corporate-speak, and just stick to the facts. Things like the mission statement and corporate philosophies are not something that go into an encyclopedia article. I gave you a helping hand and put in proper headers, and moved the external link section below the references. The sources section seems kind of superfluous. Most of the sources are already part of the inline references. Please convert the others to inline references and lose the source section. Notability is usually the big stumbling block, so if you give it a re-write, you should be good to go. Hope this helps! Gtwfan52 (talk) 02:46, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Gtwfan52 - Thank you so much for your input! I made adjustments to the copy per your recommendations. I did leave direct quotes as to their mission statement, etc, but I referenced it this time, as this is their language.

Again, Thanks. SJoy8 (talk) 03:21, 2 October 2013 (UTC)SJoy8SJoy8 (talk) 03:21, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Gtwfan52 - I reread your advice and removed the mission statement and vision. I see now what you are saying, although I thought it could be factual if I cited it.

Thanks again --SJoy8SJoy8 (talk) 03:23, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

You are certainly welcome. I would welcome some other opinions to help SJoy8 out. The article in question is at Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Mark Fisher Fitness. No disrespect, but this just doesn't seem like a subject that should be notable, but it sure appears as it is. That being said, the names of employees other than the founder are not really germane to the subject, the company. It makes it still sound pretty promotional. I realize this guy is way over the top, in an in your face highly visible sort of way, but the rhetoric of the article still needs to get toned down. This is an encyclopedia. It is supposed to be somewhat boring. There are a few web references that are not full URL's. Please cite a specific webpage for those. (That is one place where "copy and paste" is not only acceptable, it is preferred. Just copy the url from your webbrowser when you are on the page being referenced.) And again, The sources section is just confusing. If there are sources for the entirety of the article, you might keep them there, but it is better to use the <ref></ref> method and attach them to the specific facts. No reference needs to be both in sources and the reflist. So in summary, tone it down some more, lose the employees names, and clean up the sources/references and I'd say you are good to go. I am hoping someother hosts are around that will weigh in too. Gtwfan52 (talk) 04:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
Notability of the subject aside for the moment, the draft still has the air of advertising copy about it, IMHO.--ukexpat (talk) 17:52, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

I am writing an article about a small business retail. I am trying to add their logo and for some reason they are telling me I can't do so. Can you please tell me what do i need to do in order to be in compliance without having to delete the company logo. My article is still in review but I guess I have some time to resolve this issue because the review process seems to be long.Mcuenca2410 (talk) 21:13, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Hello, and welcome :) Because of our strict rules on using non-free content, including images, you must wait until it is accepted and moved as an article before you can use the logo. After such time, it is perfectly acceptable, but it is not allowed to use non-free content outside of an article proper. ~Charmlet -talk- 21:24, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
(edit conflict) Welcome to the Teahouse. If you look at the history of your AFC draft, you'll see that the editor who removed the link to the logo referred to WP:NFCC#9, so if you follow that link you will see the reason. If your AFC draft gets approved & moved into article namespace, you will then be able to use a non-free logo. - David Biddulph (talk) 21:30, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Is my article written like a resume - please comment and guide

Hi, i recently completed my first major edit.

I agree to orphan flag but for writing styles, i actually followed other wiki articles on BLP. Please identify mistakes on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bullas.

Similarly, if being listed in a Forbes list and writing / mentions in NY Times is not notable, then what is ........ your comments......

Cheers Corona2215 (talk) 16:14, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Hello there, welcome to the Teahouse :) The resume issue is such that Wikipedia articles should make very little use of bullets, and avoid them if at all possible. Content in Wikipedia articles should be written in prose, or paragraph, format. Secondly, the general notability guideline states that it must be significant coverage in the independent reliable sources. Consensus is that merely being listed on a list does not make significant coverage, nor does being mentioned or having a small amount of information about the subject. I haven't reviewed all the references though, so please take this as general advice that may or may not pertain to the article in question. Happy editing! ~Charmlet -talk- 21:28, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Sources deemed "verified"

In my recent submission which was declined, my sources apparently could not be verified. Can I please get a little help on this?

Thank you Char Businessofbasketball (talk) 12:08, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse. If you go back to your draft at User:Businessofbasketball/sandbox you will see a box at the top, with feedback. In particular it says: "This submission is not adequately supported by reliable sources. Reliable sources are required so that information can be verified. If you need help with referencing, please see Referencing for beginners and Citing sources." You need to look at those links and take action accordingly. - David Biddulph (talk) 12:30, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
The article almost looked as though it had been copied from elsewhere, with the text "edit source" there in plain brackets. The issue was that your information wasn't backed up by references. -- t numbermaniac c 11:54, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

How do I create a new draft that is only visible in my sandbox?

How do I create a new draft that is only visible in my sandbox? I already have a draft on a particular topic in my sandbox. How can I create another different topic in my sandbox? Or do I create another sandbox? Nancy Moore (talk) 04:40, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Hi Nancy, welcome to the Teahouse. The name of your sandbox page does not have a special significance as far as Wikipedia goes. You can create another page at User:Nancy Moore/sandbox2, or User:Nancy Moore/New article. After creating the page, put the {{User sandbox}} template invocation at the top of the page to get the navigation links. Your page at /draft article about Milo Liggett was deleted because it was missing the "User:Nancy Moore" part. DPRoberts534 (talk) 05:39, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Withdrawing SPI

I was wondering how to withdraw an SPI. Should I place a db_g7 template on the page? So far it has only been edited by me and a SPI Clerk to decline a CheckUser request on technical reasons. Ajax F¡oretalk 00:03, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Hey, Ajax, and thanks for stopping by the Teahouse. I'd talk to a clerk or an admin (preferably a clerk) about procedure here. If you don't get a response, a speedy-deletion tag should do it. Thanks, theonesean 01:42, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
Or just add the text "Withdrawn by nominator" or similar to the SPI.--ukexpat (talk) 17:55, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

How to edit complex references?

Hi,I'm A new at Wikipedia.I can edit simple references with source and name but I can't edit more complex references.I looked at Wiki:Help but still I can't understand it.Paleocemoski (talk) 21:37, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Hi Paleocemoski. Welcome to the Teahouse. References are hard and we're glad you are making the effort to edit them. A good place to start is by reading User:Yunshui/References for beginners. If you have more questions, feel free to ask. StarryGrandma (talk) 23:36, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
More on references. Since you are editing scientific articles you will run into "shortened footnotes" with a separate list of references and footnotes. These get created several ways, but Help:Shortened footnotes is useful for this. You may run into special templates that people have created to cite often used references. Just when I think I understand how those work, I find another truly strange example. Hope this helps. StarryGrandma (talk) 00:18, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

should I edit an existing page or open a new one?

I've been asked by my employer to edit the company's pages (a Teacher Education College). Since the info on the current pages is several years old and has not or hardly been updated since it's creation, my employer has decided that all the current texts need to be replaced with different texts all together. I don't know how to go about this...first of all I'm an in experienced Wikipedia editor, and second of all, I have not been able to find any info on how to replace all text with a different one all together. It appears to me logically, that it would be better to start a new page altogether and close the current one. What is your advise? Thanks in advance, Jen Japned71 (talk) 17:39, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse. The first thing you should do is read about conflict of interest. That explains why you should not edit the article yourself. Go to the article's talk page, and there you can suggest changes, provided that you give references to published reliable sources independent of the company to verify the information. Remember that they are not "the company's pages", they are pages about the company. - David Biddulph (talk) 17:46, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
Also see our plain and simple guide to conflict of interest. Konveyor Belt express your horror at my edits 17:57, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
Hi Jen. I recommend you check out WikiProject Universities. One of their primary goals is to "Standardize the structure and content of all college and university articles". Included are a set of college and university article guidelines that specify a standardized structure for all articles about colleges and universities with specific variations for different countries.
Stick with the existing page. To make major changes, draft them in your personal sandbox. Then open the existing article in one browser window and the major revision in a separate browser window. Highlight the revision text and wikicode by right-clicking and selecting Copy. Then move to the existing article, highlight the portion to be replaced and right-click again. Paste the revised text into the existing article and leave an edit summary to explain the change. Such a major change is likely to attract the attention of the anti-vandalism patrol because students have a habit of vandalizing articles about their school. Click the Save page button and move on to the next section you're revising.
Hope this helps. DocTree (ʞlɐʇ·cont) Join WER 18:59, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Hi, I’m new at Wikipedia and I’m trying to add external links for certain Civil War Wikipedia pages that will show Wikipedia visitors where they can find primary source material for a specific battle if the Wikipedia summary is insufficient for their needs. Two other sites have similar, but not identical material (Cornell University and Ohio State University) for some battles/books and I’ve tried to duplicate their pattern for adding links but a Wikipedia editor is concerned my links are spam or too promotional. I’ve responded to him but have had no reply. Here’s a link to my talk page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:AlysonMansfield

Here are the directions on external links I believe apply: "Some acceptable links include those that contain further research that is accurate and on-topic, information that could not be added to the article for reasons such as copyright or amount of detail, or other meaningful, relevant content that is not suitable for inclusion in an article for reasons unrelated to its accuracy." And under "What can normally be linked" "Sites that contain neutral and accurate material that is relevant to an encyclopedic understanding of the subject and cannot be integrated into the Wikipedia article due to copyright issues,[3] amount of detail (such as professional athlete statistics, movie or television credits, interview utranscripts, or online textbooks), or other reasons."

For example: On the Wikipedia page “The Battle of Ball’s Bluff” I would like to add this external link: http://www.civilwarchest.com/node/188533 It takes a reader directly to the section in the Official Records where they can read the primary source material about Ball’s Bluff. It’s difficult to navigate the Official Records and find these pages without a direct link. Is this an acceptable External link or would it be better under References or another section? Any guidance you can give would be greatly appreciated.AlysonMansfield (talk) 15:36, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, AlysonMansfield. I took a look at the Civil War Chest website that you are trying to add, and I wasn't able to easily find information about who publishes it, what sort of editorial control it has, and how the decisions are made about what to include and what to exclude. If you are affiliated with this website, please read our guidelines on conflict of interest and please disclose your connection on your user page. If this is essentially a self-published "hobbyist" website, then its use is discouraged. The university websites are preferable, in my opinion, and I suspect that most experienced editors would agree with me, but other opinions are welcomed. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 19:49, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
Cullen, Thanks so much for your response. I will edit my user page to show ownership of this website. From reading the COI page I can see that was an oversight on my part. I believe I understand the COI concerns but I still think that based on the "Advertising and conflicts of interest" section in External Links, the greater concern in evaluating a link is the benefit to Wikipedia users.

"Choose which pages to link based on the immediate benefit to Wikipedia readers that click on the link, not based on the organization's tax status or your guess at whether the website's owner might earn money from the link."

I'm happy to step aside and not add these external links if that's the consensus but I think it will be a loss to Wikipedia users because the links that exist on these sites don't help users find the primary source material, even at the library sites. The material is just difficult to navigate without a very direct link.

Thanks for your insight and guidance.AlysonMansfield (talk) 02:01, 1 October 2013 (UTC)